Manufacture of footwear



May 17, 1966 B HOPE 3,251,082

MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR Filed June 11, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 24 27 SOLE/11am May 17, 1966 J. B. HOPE 3,251,082

MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR Filed June 11, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 AIR SUPPLY United States Patent O 3,251,082 MANUFACTURE F FOUTWEAR John B. Hope, Leicester, England, assigner to The Standp ard Engineering Company Limited, Leicester, England,

a British company Filed June 11, 1964, Ser. No. 374,445 Claims priority, application Great Britain, July 8, 1963,

26,970/ 63 3 Claims. (Cl. 12-535) This invention relates to the manufacture of footwear and in particular to the ironing of the seat portion of the footwear by pressing the same onto a hot plate or block.

This particular operation is conducted on a seat ironing machine, and it is an object of the invention to improve the operation of such machines. Specifically, it is an object of the invention to improve the ironing effect of such machines in relation to the feather line of the footwear. Around this line, wrinkles caused by lasting frequently remain despite the use of seat ironing machines as heretofore constructed.

The invention consists, broadly, in a seat ironing machine comprising means for pressing the seat end of footwear, in the course of constructing the same, against a heated plate or block, and a low temperature auxiliary heating element of arcuate form, which may be associated with a reflector, positioned for heating the upper in the region of the feather line around the seat portion during the ironing operation. Preferably, in addition, the machine comprises means for applying moisture to the region which will be heated by the heating element and reector where provided. This means may comprise'a steam jet'or plurality of steam jets for directing wet steam around the feather line of the shoe.

The expression low temperature heating element means a heating element which is not, in use, intended to become incandescent and generally, a s o-called infrared electric heating element will be employed. This will normally be of substantially horseshoe shape, at least along an intermediate portion.

In a practical embodiment of the invention, the application of pressure may be initiated by a trip or the like actuated by engaging the rear portion of the footwear against a stop for positioning the same below a clamp. The clamp may be operated pneumatically in association with timing means for giving an adjustable,

The heating element may be predetermined dwell. activated uninterruptedly while the machine is in use,

but the supply of steam may be switched in unison with the clamp.

More particularly, there is provided continuously operating means for activating the low temperature heating element and intermittently operating means for actuating the steamV jet, with the intermittently operating means being conventionally synchronized with the operation of the machine for applying the wet steam when a shoe is clamped between the clamp and the heel plate or block.

The invention will be described further with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIGURE l is a side view of a seat ironing machine, in largely diagrammatic form and omitting pneumatic circuitry;

FIGURE 2 is a plan View corresponding to FIGURE l, and v FIGURE 3 is a pneumatic layout.

The construction ofthe machine will be obvious from the drawings, and only its operation will therefore be described.

The operator places the seat end of the shoe onto the ironing plate or block 2 provided with a heatingelement 2 of suitable type such as an electric heater and moves the shoe inwards into the machine to engage the trip block 4. This is adjustably carried on a sliding bar 5 and the extreme end of the bar engages valve A.

The machine then automatically clamps the shoe in position by means of clamp pad 6 and While'the shoe is held under pressure the seat ironing plate presses the lasting margin against the last at the seat and at the same time the horseshoe radiant heater 1 combined with the steam jet from the nozzle 3 takes out the creases at the feather line. The period the shoe remains under heat in the machine is controlled by the flow regulator D.

The angle of the seat ironing plate can be adjusted to suit the pitch of the last by means of the adjustable wedge 7 and adjustingscrew 8.

The trip block 4 is provided with a stem 10` which slides into the correspondingly 'recessed bar 5 and is held therein by a clamp screw 9. Thus the block 4,can be adjusted by means of screw 9 to accommodate various sizes of last, by varying the exert to which .the stem 10 protrudes from the bar 5.

Referring to FIGURE 3 the sequence of the pneumatic equipment is as follows:

When the trip valve A is operated the main air supply through line 11 is cut off from the valve of the air in the reservior chamber H flows through line 12 to one end of distribution valve B, re-setting this valve so that the clamp operating cylinder C is opened to exhaust on the top port through line 13 and connected to the main air supply on the bottom port through line 14 to operate the cylinder C. This cylinder is linked to a pivoted arm 15 linked in turn to the clamp pad 6, so operation of cylinder C as just described causes arm 15 to swing over and clamp the shoe. At the same time the air begins to flow through the regulating valve D from the line 14 to lill-up the pressure chamber E, and

when the pressure in this chamber reaches the pre-set pressure the operating valve F comes into action; this allows the air fr om chamber E to ow to the other end of the distribution valve B through line 15. This reverses the valve B and brings the mechanism back to the starting position.

There is also included in the pneumatic circuit a quick release valve G. This is manually operated in case there is a desire to re-position the shoe or release the shoe before the pre-set time period, by immediate reversal of the distribution valve B. This reversal is achieved by connecting the valve G by line 16 to the same end of valve B as is fed by line 15.

As previously mentioned, there is provided continuously operating means for activating the heater 1 and such means can comprise switch means 20 located in circuit 21. An example of the intermittently operated means for actuating the steam jet from the nozzle 3 -includes a valve 22 interposed in steam line 23 and connected with the interior of the nozzle via a conduit 24. A micro-switch 25 operably coupled with bar 5 and located in circuit 26 actuates solenoid 27 associated with the valve 22.

.This invention is not to beconfined to any strict conformity to the showings in the drawings but changes and modifications may be made therein so long as such changes and modifications mark no material departure from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A shoe seat ironing device comprising a shoe supporting clamp member, a heel block, heating means for said heel block, means mounting said clamp member and heel block for relative movement to clamp a shoe seat portion therebetween and press said block against the shoe seat to be ironed, means for effecting the movement of said clamp member and block towards and away from one another, and a low temperature auxiliary heating element of arcuate form separate from the heel block position to be adjacent a clamped shoe upper in the region of the feather line around the seat portion for heating the same during the ironing operation.

2. A seat ironing machine according to claim 1 comprising a steam jet positioned for directing wet steam around the feather line of the shoe.

3. A machine according to claim 2 comprising continuously operating means for activating said low temperature heating element and intermittently operating means for actuating said steam jet, said intermittently operating means being synchronized with the operation of the machine to apply said wet steam when a shoe is clamped between said clamp means and said heel block.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

P. D. LAWSON, Assistant Examiner, 

1. A SHOE SEAT IRONING DEVICE COMPRISING A SHOE SUPPORTING CLAMP MEMBER, A HEEL BLOCK, HEATING MEANS FOR SAID HEEL BLOCK, MEANS MOUNTING SAID CLAMP MEMBER AND HEEL BLOCK FOR RELATIVE MOVEMENT TO CLAP A SHOE SEAT PORTION THEREBETWEEN AND PRESS SAID BLOCK AGAINST THE SHOE SEAT TO BE IRONED, MEANS FOR EFFECTING THE MOVEMENT OF SAID CLAMP MEMBER AND BLOCK TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM ONE ANOTHER, AND A LOW TEMPERATURE AUXILIARY HEATING ELEMENT OF ARCUATE FORM SEPARATE FROM THE HEEL BLOCK POSITION TO BE ADJACENT A CLAMPED SHOE UPPER IN THE REGION OF THE FEATHER LINE AROUND THE SEAT PORTION FOR HEATING THE SAME DURING THE IRONING OPERATION. 